Association of meteorological and day-of-the-week factors with emergency hospital admissions in Fukuoka, Japan

We carried out a statistical study of the influence of meteorological and day-of-the-week factors on the intrinsic emergency patients transported to hospitals by ambulance. Multiple piecewise linear regression analysis was performed on data from 6,081 emergency admissions for 1 year between April 1997 and March 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan. The response variable was the daily number of emergency patients admitted with three types of disease: cerebrovascular, respiratory and digestive diseases. The results showed that the number of emergency patients admitted daily with cerebrovascular disease was significantly associated with temperature on the day of admission and whether the day was Sunday. As it became colder than 12 degreesC, emergency admissions of patients with cerebrovascular disease increased drastically, reaching a plateau at 4 degreesC. On the 3rd and 7th days after the temperature fell below 10 degreesC, the daily admission of patients with respiratory disease significantly increased. We also observed a weak association between emergency admissions of patients suffering from digestive disease and rising barometric pressure on the day of admission.